THESE wriggly lengths of light crispiness are the perfect vehicles for shipping dip from plate to mouth.

They are so good, in fact, that I’ve even included the easiest, most delicious dip recipe I have. These may look like standard bread sticks – albeit a bit deformed – that didn’t quite fit in the oven but alas they are not.

These are purpose-built bread snakes, baked in a really hot oven so they darken but don’t go too crisp, for that is the big secret of making bread – bake in a hot oven and you’ll have a thin crust but bake in a cool one to the same colour of crust and you’ll have a thick crust.

These aren’t just crust all the way, through. They’re light and fluffy in the middle so when broken apart, they have maximum scooping power.

The dip isn’t quite houmous – it may be made with chickpeas but it doesn’t have tahini. Instead, it’s flavoured with dried sage. These flavours go well together and make a fresh alternative in a houmous-saturated world.

FOR THE BREAD SNAKES

250g strong white flour

One sachet (7g) instant yeast

5g table salt

160g tepid water

For the dip

One tin of chickpeas, keeping the water they were in

Two teaspoons of dried sage

Large pinch of salt and pepper

A good glug of olive oil

Makes 8 bread snakes Method

1 In a large bowl, mix your flour, yeast and salt together, keeping your yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl as much as you can. Add the water, then mix everything together into a soft, wet dough.

2 Mop up all the rogue flour from the side of the bowl, then cover it over with clingfilm and leave for half an hour at room temperature

3 Go back to your dough and fold it over itself again and again, pressing down each time to force any air out. Once you think you’re not making any difference to the dough, re-cover and leave for an hour. Alternatively, you can chuck it in the fridge for up to a day!

4 Before you get ready for the next step, make sure to preheat your oven to 240C/220C fan/Gas mark 9 for 15 minutes!

5 Turn your rested dough out on to a surface with a light dusting of flour on it and roll it gently into a sausage. Cut into 8 roughly equal pieces using a knife or scraper.

6 With each piece, flatten slightly then roll it up like a swiss roll. Using the heels of both hands, roll your dough out like a sausage, keeping rolling backwards and forwards until it’s at least 15-20cm long, then place on a baking tray.

7 Once you have 4 ready, place the tray in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until your snakes are a dark golden brown. Whilst they’re in the oven, you can prepare the final 4!

8 To make the dip, simply place your drained chickpeas (keep the water) in a blender with the sage, salt, pepper and oil. Blend, adding wee bits of the tin water, until you reach your desired consistency.